Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: gut microbiota composition and the effects of exogenous estrogen administration.

Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) is characterized by estrogen deficiency that significantly impacts metabolic, bone, cardiovascular, mental, and reproductive health. Given the importance of environmental factors such as stress and body composition, and particularly considering the importance of estrogens in regulating the gut microbiota, some changes in the intestinal microenvironment are expected when all of these factors occur simultaneously. We aimed to assess whether the gut microbiota composition is altered in FHA and to determine the potential impact of hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) on the gut microbiota.

Multiparametric Dynamic Ultrasound Approach for Differential Diagnosis of Primary Liver Tumors.

A correct differentiation between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intracellular cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is essential for clinical management and prognostic prediction. However, non-invasive differential diagnosis between HCC and ICC remains highly challenging. Dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (D-CEUS) with standardized software is a valuable tool in the diagnostic approach to focal liver lesions and could improve accuracy in the evaluation of tumor perfusion.

Heterogeneous Condition of Asthmatic Children Patients: A Narrative Review.

Currently, asthma represents the most common chronic disorder in children, showing an increasingly consistent burden worldwide. Childhood asthma, similar to what happens in adults, is a diversified disease with a great variability of phenotypes, according to genetic predisposition of patients, age, severity of symptoms, grading of risk, and comorbidities, and cannot be considered a singular well-defined disorder, but rather a uniquely assorted disorder with variable presentations throughout childhood. Despite several developments occurring in recent years in pediatric asthma, above all, in the management of the disease, some essential areas, such as the improvement of pediatric asthma outcomes, remain a hot topic.

Elastography as a predictor of liver cirrhosis complications after hepatitis C virus eradication in the era of direct-acting antivirals.

Chronic inflammation due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection leads to liver fibrosis and rearrangement of liver tissue, which is responsible for the development of portal hypertension (PH) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The advent of direct-acting antiviral drugs has revolutionized the natural history of HCV infection, providing an overall eradication rate of over 90%. Despite a significant decrease after sustained virological response (SVR), the rate of HCC and liver-related complications is not completely eliminated in patients with advanced liver disease.

Associations of Vascular Risk Factors and Genotype With Perivascular Spaces Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Background Evidence suggests that enlarged perivascular spaces (PVSs) may represent a marker for cerebral small-vessel disease. We investigated whether vascular risk factors are correlated with visible PVS in older adults. Methods and Results This population-based study included 530 participants (age ≥60 years) who were free from dementia and functional dependence, derived from the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (2001-2003).

Classification of Healthy Subjects and Alzheimer's Disease Patients with Dementia from Cortical Sources of Resting State EEG Rhythms: A Study Using Artificial Neural Networks.

Previous evidence showed a 75.5% best accuracy in the classification of 120 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with dementia and 100 matched normal elderly (Nold) subjects based on cortical source current density and linear lagged connectivity estimated by eLORETA freeware from resting state eyes-closed electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms (Babiloni et al., 2016a).

Comparative evaluation of high-flow nasal cannula and conventional oxygen therapy in paediatric cardiac surgical patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and conventional O2 therapy (OT) in paediatric cardiac surgical patients; the primary objective of the study was to evaluate whether HFNC was able to improve PaCO2 elimination in the first 48 h after extubation postoperatively.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, controlled trial in pediatric cardiac surgical patients under 18 months of age. At the beginning of the weaning of ventilation, patients were randomly assigned to either of the following groups: OT or HFNC.

Infliximab in the treatment of steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis.

Background And Objectives: Infliximab has proven efficacious in the treatment of Crohn's disease. Limited and contrasting data are available on effectiveness of anti-TNF alpha therapy in ulcerative colitis. We evaluated the efficacy of infliximab in the management of steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis.

Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 gene polymorphisms in inflammatory bowel disease.

Intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 is a single-chain cell surface glycoprotein that plays an important role in the recruitment of leukocytes at sites of inflammation and is up-regulated in intestinal mucosa of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). ICAM-1 gene lies on chromosome 19p13, implicated in determining susceptibility to IBD. The human ICAM-1 gene contains two polymorphic sites in codon 241 (G241R) and 469 (K469E) which have been implicated in the susceptibility to a range of degenerative and inflammatory diseases.